The invention relates to a massage device for an item of furniture for sitting or lying on, having a first shaft and a second shaft which are supported parallel with one another in a frame, and at least one arm which carries at least one massage body. The arm is coupled to the two shafts in such a manner that a rotation of the shafts brings about a massage movement of the massage body in a first and/or second direction.
Such massage devices are installed, for example, in the backrest of an armchair. The frame is adjustable in guide rails in the vertical direction so that both the neck region of a user and also the lower back region can be massaged.
Massage armchairs are often used not only for massaging, but also, for example, for reading or watching television. Whereas pressure is to be exerted on the user""s back during massage, it is desirable when reading or watching television if the massage body is not felt in the back.
It has therefore already been proposed to form the guide rails, in which the frame can be adjusted in the vertical direction, in such a manner that the massage body is moved away from the user""s body at the end of the guide rails. In addition, it has already been proposed to adapt the guide rails to a user""s spinal column in the other regions also, in order to exert a correspondingly adapted pressure of the massage body in various regions of a user""s back.
EP-A-1 048 281 also discloses a massage device in which the massage body, in addition to the usual kneading or tapping massage, can also be adjusted perpendicularly to the frame. Thus, the massage body can be moved into a resting position in which it no longer exerts pressure on a user""s back. This adjustment facility also enables the user to set the pressure of the massage body to his particular requirements. The known embodiment provides that the two shafts are supported together with the drive motors on a slide on the frame, it being possible to adjust the slide by means of a further motor. An adjustment of the slide then brings about a displacement of the two shafts and therefore of the massage bodies relative to the frame.
Although this known embodiment permits very versatile and individual settings, the mechanism requires a relatively large installation space, as a result of which the backrest has to be in a correspondingly thick form.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a massage device in which the means for displacing the massage body relative to the frame requires a smaller installation space.
The massage device according to the invention for an item of furniture for sitting and/or lying on consists substantially of a first shaft and a second shaft which are supported parallel with one another in a frame, and at least one arm which carries at least one massage body, the arm being coupled to the two shafts in such a manner that a rotation of the shafts brings about a massage movement of the massage body in a first and second direction. In addition, means are provided for displacing the massage body relative to the frame and they are formed by means for changing the distance between the two shafts.
Owing to the coupling of the arm carrying the massage body to the two shafts, the massage body can be displaced relative to the frame as a result of changing the distance between the shafts by displacing at least one of the two shafts.
According to a preferred embodiment, the arm carries the massage body at one end and is coupled to the first shaft by its other end. Furthermore, the arm is in operative contact with the second shaft in an intermediate region. The rotation of the one shaft brings about a movement of the massage body which takes place substantially parallel with the shaft, while the rotation of the other shaft brings about a movement of the massage body which takes place substantially perpendicularly to the shaft.
According to a special embodiment, the means for changing the distance between the two shafts have a motor for displacing one of the two shafts.